Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1887-02-03
FARM MANAGEMENT.
The Improvement in Fruits in
This Country During the
Past Half Century.
Fowls Raised on Farms Worth More for
Home Consumption Than
For Sale.
IMPROVEMENT in Fruit

Improvement in Fruit
The recent death of Col. Marshall p
Wilder, the eminent horticulturist,
doubtless caused many to think of the
gaeat progress that has been made in
fruit culture since he first. became in
terested in the matter. In his child
hood there was no lack of apples in the
New England states. In fact apples
were very plenty, for the people want
ed them not only for food, but for ma
king cider, which was a very common
beverage. The custom providing cider
for men at work in the fields was
brought from England by the early
settlers. and was long practised by
them and their defendants. In many
portions of New England there was a
cider-mill in every school or highway
district, and it was generally kept in
operation from the time the first apples
were ripe till those last gathered were
frozen hard. Every farmer had an or
chard. and in many towns the sides OF
the roads were lined with apple trees.
AS the cam ng of fruit was unknown
der apple was a most import
ant article in every house, and large
quantities of dried apples were wanted
for domestic consumption and for sup
plying the market
With all the abundance OF apples.
however, there was great scarcity OF
those that were very choice. Nearly
all the trees were what are ''called nat
ural fruit" A man who wanted an
orchard planted apple-seed. raised trees
from them, and finally planted them
out so as to form an orchard. 1t was
many years before he could ascertain
what kind of fruit they would produce.
In some orchards one tree in every six
would produce apples fit for eating
without being cooked. In other cases the
proportion of trees that produced apples
fit to eat was much smaller. Some
times an orchard which contained sew
eral hundred trees would not, even in a
good clearing year." produce enough
'.eat ng apples to supply the wants of
the family. A fair proportion of the
trees produced cooking apples, but
most OF them bore only cider apples.
Even forty years ago it was difficult
to obtain barrel of apples all of the
same kind. In an orchard of seeding
trees each was likely to produce diff
ferent kind of apples. The first great
improvement in apple culture consisted
in grating the scions cut from trees
producing superior fruit into the
branches of those bearing fruit that was
nearly worthless. This practice was
followed by grating the stalks of trees
in nursery rows and the roots of apple
trees.
During the past thirty years it ha.
been practical for man living in 9
suitable locality to have an orchard o.
apple trees that produced the kind o.
fruit he wanted for the market, for eat
ing. for cooking. for drying, or fol
making cider. He can now have al
assortment of summer. fall and winter
apples. He need raise none of IN infe
rior quality. He can raise apples tina
will delight the sense of sight and smell
AS well as that of tasting. He car
have an orchard of a hundred trees, al
produc ne the same kind of apples, Of
each d iferent kind. During the pas
twenty years several varieties of apples
have been produced bv the process o
Decentralization. Most of the varie
ties that are adapted to high northern
ATTITUDES have been obtained in thi
way The apples obtained from thu
northern portions of Russia have als'
proved TO be very valuable accession
TO our lists of fruits. By means o
them apple culture has been extende,
10 portions of the country so far nortl
that it was presumed no fruit tree
could be found sufficiently hearty t
endure the severity of the winters.
Great Improvement has been mad
during the past thirty years in the quail
ity of pears, peaches, cherries, an
plums. During this period the cultur
of melons has received very great at
tention. Varieties have been produce
of exceedingly large size and of exquis
lite flavor In several states melon
are included among the leading farm
crops. and very large tracts Of land ar
devoted to them. So many melons ar
produced in some of the southern an
central states that railway and steam
boat companies make special rates o.
them i'm order to secure their transpor
tation TO northern and eastern cities
where, in their season, they are includ
ed among the common articles of food
and are found on almost every hote
restaurant. and family table. Crap
culture has also made n very great &C
vance during the past thirty years. A
the commencement Of the civil wa
grapes we're articles of luxury that or
" the very rich could afford to bu,
The amount of them sold in our leat
ing cities was very small. Now grape
are the cheapest fruit that can be ol
tanned, and are generally eaten by tt
poor. American vineyards now favo
Div compare with those of German
and France in size, while product,
prapevines are found in almost ever
villa ye and country garden.
The most astonishing advance. hov
ever. has been made in the class I
fruits ordinarily called berries. Il
about the year 1880 scarcely any after
ton had been given to the cultivatio
of straw berries. blackberries, raspbe
ries. or cranberries They all gre
wild in favoritc localities. and poop
living in the vicinity gathered the
during the r season. The first attempt
to improve them bv cultivation or
obtain new varieties by artificial eros
fertil cation we're ridiculed by man,
Now the production Of the small frui,